My first show of 2013 is March 2nd (very few do shows Jan/Feb) so when I sign up I have 4 months to get fighters who will have a "green light" from Safe MMA.

Yes It will be hard work for the promotions involved as they will have to chase the fighters and gyms to register before fighting in 2013.

There are still questions I have to ask and improvements which I will advocate when I become an EQUAL member of SAFE MMA. However with the team involved this a giant step in the right direction and 2013 will be a watershed for UKMMA.

This will sperate the men from the boys and more importantly LEAVE BEHIND THE UNPROFFESSIONAL people in the sport who don't care about these issues.

This governing body isn't going to actually stop people putting on shows though is it, it's not going to be a legal requirement and it is first and foremost a voluntary registration. It won't stop fighters who don't want to pay money like this fighting on those shows and getting noticed and involved in a big show e.g. the UFC, Bellator etc etc.

Like Rosi, I would like to echo that this has not been rushed through. I can 100% assure you that a massive effort has been made to make sure everything was considered. Perhaps a few issues may arise, but I am confident during the many meetings, phone calls, emails etc we covered as much as we could collectively think of. People have also been introduced later in the process (like myself) and so sat and asked many questions again that the group had already toiled over months before. Everything has been covered more than once, democratically and every decision was a collective one. On the point of timing, it was essential that SAFE MMA was launched as soon as possible, both from a safety perspective, but also to maintain the momemtum that had gathered over the last couple of years and the last year in particular. The UKMMAF were very clear in that they supported the timing of the launch as they still have a lot of ground to make up and SAFE MMA had an agreed model, infrastructure, team and technology ready to go. Please also consider that the UK is its own entity with its own cultural and political tendancies, and so we all feel like it should be treated as such. Marc will vehemently back me up on this as he has seen the short falls of many other models elsewhere in the world. We are hopeful that this model can be adopted by other nations in the future, though we are of course only concerned with the UK. Should another nation like the model then that would be excellent for the recognition of the collective efforts of SAFE MMA and UKMMA.

This governing body isn't going to actually stop people putting on shows though is it, it's not going to be a legal requirement and it is first and foremost a voluntary registration. It won't stop fighters who don't want to pay money like this fighting on those shows and getting noticed and involved in a big show e.g. the UFC, Bellator etc etc.

Firstly Grizzly can we establish that SAFE MMA is NOT a governing body. Its a medical intiative to improve fighter safety. thats the scope, no more. The UK is both good and bad in that there is no law stopping a would be promoter putting on an mma show, bare knuckle brawl, unlicensed boxing or otherwise. There is little that can be done about that. It would be a risky strategy to appeal to authorities to introduce licensing at this stage given the status quo, particularly the lack of safety measures across the board. Please remember the British Medical Association are haters of MMA and need no encouragement to turn the screw on the sport. With the individuals at harley street behind SAFE MMA, UKMMA has a real chance of changing some of the minds within the BMA.

Firstly Grizzly can we establish that SAFE MMA is NOT a governing body. Its a medical intiative to improve fighter safety. thats the scope, no more. The UK is both good and bad in that there is no law stopping a would be promoter putting on an mma show, bare knuckle brawl, unlicensed boxing or otherwise. There is little that can be done about that. It would be a risky strategy to appeal to authorities to introduce licensing at this stage given the status quo, particularly the lack of safety measures across the board. Please remember the British Medical Association are haters of MMA and need no encouragement to turn the screw on the sport. With the individuals at harley street behind SAFE MMA, UKMMA has a real chance of changing some of the minds within the BMA.

I was going off this bit of Rosi's post but will admit I mis-read the section highlighted where it says governing body because I'm dipping in and out of a few things at work...

Originally Posted by Rosi

SAFE MMA is currently ready to go - and believe me, the process has taken a long time and many meetings to work out the details. A functioning governing body will take considerably longer, and there are many more issues to address. As you say yourself, it's important not to rush these things.

All the promotions that sign up will no longer be able to use a fighter who is not registered.

So in Febuary/March/April 2013, You have a 3 pullouts all on your main card one or two weeks before your show.

A promotion that already requires bloodtests simply selects a fighter who wants to fight and agrees a purse, tells him to get his bloodtests, the fighter attends the weigh in , submits the test, next day has his pre fight medical with trained/qualified medical practioners, fights , has a post fight medical with trained/qualified medical practitioners.

A member promotion will go to the database and there will be a list of fighters , allot of these fighters will have fought on the top shops so their purse expectation will be higher, some will be contracted to other promotions, some will have already fought, some will be the wrong weight.
You will have very few options to actually match your fight well and if you cannot find somebody on the database you simply have to cancel all the fights.

I am afraid that is a small price to pay for greatly increasing the safety of your fighters. A pro fighter should (barring injuries) fight 3- 5 times a year.

If you read the SAFE MMA literature there is a good chance the cost of £235 (plus GP fee) will decrease in the future as more fighters sign up for SAFE MMA.

Promoters who only pay £150- £200 for a pro fighter probably have no respect for what they do or their safety . In turn will be reluctant to join SAFE MMA and have no place in the sport in my opinion.

BTW Mad Dog Im not directing this at you just using your costing argument as a yard stick for some of the many promotions.

I'm not sure £2,640 is a 'small price' (if it is then please send me your cheque made out to iwantobea billionairesofrikinbad) and 'should' isnt what most pro fighters rack up, even so they will still want a £100 plus on each purse.

How long till this 'good chance' happens? before or after all the small promotions, that feed the big shows, go bust?

I'm not picking an argument, I'm just trying find out where the 'extra' money will be coming from? Why will Joe Public pay an extra £5 per ticket, or the extra 176 spectators come from? Will SAFE MMA be helping me promote and sell tickets?

I'm not sure £2,640 is a 'small price' (if it is then please send me your cheque made out to iwantobea billionairesofrikinbad) and 'should' isnt what most pro fighters rack up, even so they will still want a £100 plus on each purse.

How long till this 'good chance' happens? before or after all the small promotions, that feed the big shows, go bust?

I'm not picking an argument, I'm just trying find out where the 'extra' money will be coming from? Why will Joe Public pay an extra £5 per ticket, or the extra 176 spectators come from? Will SAFE MMA be helping me promote and sell tickets?

Sorry Mad Dog, but I dont fully understand your maths. I'm not sure about a promoter having to compensate a fighter as the fighter pays an annual fee which will allows them to fight on any SAFE MMA show. £150 comtribution is over 60% contribution for 1 fight out of a possible 6/7 if you look at Alexei (;o)) or Jack Mason. This might be a controversial argument, but some promoters have been taking and not really contributing to the longevity of the sport...not your show, sir.